So you see, when I swam to that sandbar, using my own muscles, my own blood, and veins, and heart, it felt like I could take on the world.
“ Beck!” I squealed, and jumped so that water splashed around me.
“ Abby!” Beck answered with excitement. He could’ve swam to that sandbar and back two dozen times, but he celebrated with me as if he knew how monumental it was.
“ TAKE THAT SHARKS!” I screamed so loud that I’m sure any shark within a few miles fled for fear of my wrath.
Beck and I laughed and jumped around, splashing water. Then he completely side-swiped me.
“ I LIKE YOU!” Three words screamed out into the ocean so confidently and carefree that I wanted to bottle them up to prove to myself that he had in fact said them.
I stopped splashing and I just stared at him with wide eyes and a gaping mouth. I know you might be thinking “he didn’t say love , chill out”, but before that moment, a boy had never told me he liked me. Waves crashed against my hips, and I just stood there silent, completely taken aback. Thankfully, he didn’t wait for me to respond.
“ C’mon! Our surprise starts in a little bit and we should take a quick break before then.”
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Beck had arranged a surfing lesson for us through the hotel. After we’d returned to shore and I’d reapplied sunscreen (with Beck’s help), a surfing instructor with longish blonde hair and an interesting Texas-meets-surfer accent found us under the umbrella.
“ Are you guys Beck and Abby?” he asked, looking down at a sheet of paper in his hand. He wasn’t wearing a shirt and I could tell he spent most of his time outside. His entire body had a deep tan and he was toned from surfing.
I wondered how he spotted us among all the other beach goers, but when I looked around, it seemed we were the only ones around without a cartload of kids. I guess it was pretty obvious.
“ Yeah,” we said in unison, and then stood to shake the sand off of us.
“ Oh, great!” he said. “Let’s get started. I’m Jason. I’ll be your surfing instructor.”
Of course his name was Jason.
I pulled a hair band out of my bag and tugged my long hair into loose ponytail so it would be out of my face during our training . Then we followed Jason over to the shoreline where he’d placed two longboards in the sand.
“ Have you guys ever surfed before?” he asked, holding my gaze with a pair of dark brown eyes. He was not at all bad to look at and I decided I would enjoy my surfing lesson even more.
We both shook our heads and he placed his hands on his hips, assuming the teacher pose. “Surfing is an art and you guys won’t master it during one lesson. But, we’ll start with the basics on the sand, move to the board, then move into the water.”
“ We’ll do it right here on the beach where everyone can watch us?” I asked, adjusting my bikini bottom. Oh who was I kidding? Nothing would fall out of my bikini while I practiced surfing on the beach.
“ Yeah, it won’t be so bad.” He gestured to the few beachgoers that were focused on us. “They’ll go back to doing their own thing in a few minutes.”
We nodded and I looked over to watch Beck roll out his shoulders and stretch his arms. He looked so good in that bathing suit and I had a suspicious feeling that he’d pick up surfing much faster than I would.
“ Alright, let’s start in the sand on our bellies. We’ll learn how to mount the board first.”
“ Hear that, Abby? You’re going to learn how to mount.” Beck thought that was quite clever. Jason had the decency to clear his throat and look away.
I rolled my eyes. “Beck, you were the one trying to mount me in my sleep last night. Don’t think I forgot.”